The Bauzi or Baudi tribe consists of a group of 2,000 people
living in the north-central part of the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n province of
Papua (formerly
Irian Jaya
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...
). The Bauzi area consists of much of the west side of lower
Mamberamo River
The Mamberamo (''Indonesian: Sungai Mamberamo'') is the second longest river on the island of New Guinea, after Sepik River (1,146 km) and third largest in Oceania by discharge (5,500 m3/s) volume after Fly River (7,500 m3/s) and Sepik (7,000 m3/ ...
area in northern Papua. The Bauzi people lived on hunting and gathering in the jungle.
While the Bauzi people were historically an
animistic
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, hum ...
people group, they are now 65%
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. For the most part, tribal warfare is no longer a large part of Bauzi culture and all Bauzi people speak the same language. In recent years, linguists have been studying the language and translating various literature, including the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
, into the
Bauzi language
Bauzi (also written ''Baudi, Baudji, Baudzi, Bauri'') is a Papuan language of the East Geelvink Bay family spoken in the Indonesian province of Papua.
Dialects are Gesda Dae, Neao, and Aumenefa. Villages are Danau Bira, Itaba, Kustera, Neao, No ...
.
See also
*
Indigenous people of New Guinea
The indigenous peoples of West Papua in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, commonly called Papuans, are Melanesians. There is genetic evidence for two major historical lineages in New Guinea and neighboring islands: a first wave from the Malay Arch ...
References
Indigenous ethnic groups in Western New Guinea
Ethnic groups in Indonesia
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